


Relentless

by nopesther



Category: EXO (Band), Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Donghae and Eunhyuk are best friends, Driver Chanyeol, Drug addict Eunhyuk, Leeteuk and Donghae are like brothers, Leeteuk is a dad, Leeteuk is always a leader, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Robbers & Police AU, Undercover Cop Heechul
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-02-23 18:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18707275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nopesther/pseuds/nopesther
Summary: Leeteuk's gang is famous yet unstoppable. To track them, Seoul's police sent, four years ago, one of their best cop undercover: Kim Heenim. This year, Leeteuk plans on a new robbery and the police decide it's time to arrest him at last.Everything seems to go well for both sides until feelings and betrayals come into the equation.





	1. The Job

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> This is a big project I just started but I sure hope to finish it because I'm really enjoying it. I can't tag everything that is happening in it because I want to avoid spoilers as much as possible.  
> You can find the aesthetic for the characters on my twitter: @spleenasty - https://twitter.com/spleenasty/status/1124268622761873410  
> Enjoy!

**Thursday, May 2nd**

**3:27 pm**

 

“I’ve got a job for you,” says Leeteuk while looking at the expensive watches in the glass counter. He could probably afford one if he cared, but he doesn’t, and Yesung knows that he is just looking at them to act like a normal client among the others. Next to Leeteuk, Shindong is looking away, checking on security guards maybe (or security cameras, more likely)(they both have some hard feelings towards security cameras). Yesung doesn’t ask, he is used to both of them doing this together, professionally, always.

Yesung smiles before answering eventually, trying to be the sales assistant he is supposed to be when, really, right now, his curiosity has been tickled and he wishes to know more already.

“I’m listening,” Yesung says, hands crossed behind his back, his eyes glimmering with interest while he watches Leeteuk smile back.

“I know you would,” Leeteuk whispers, and he gives Yesung a paper, then he is gone. Yesung takes a look at the paper and what is written on it.

_ The Coroner _

_ Saturday  _

_ 9 pm _

The handwriting is elegant and thin, it always looks good on checks. Yesung quickly shoves the paper in his pocket and gets back to his job, going for a yell at one of his co-employee - he doesn’t need to check to know that Leeteuk and Shindong have already left the shop, discreetly, the same way they had entered it. 

Yesung keeps smiling. There is something about the way Leeteuk suggests ideas: he just cannot say no. Last time was a blast, Yesung knows this time will more likely to be brilliant as well.

 

**6:13 pm**

 

Kyuhyun is not someone to be surprised by many things, but seeing Leeteuk and Shindong walking into his office when he is about to close for the day is somehow unexpected.

However, not disconcerting. There are not many reasons for Leeteuk to come meet Kyuhyun face to face without a warning: either Kyuhyun is in trouble for something and Leeteuk needs fast and clear explanations (which never happened and will never happen because Kyuhyun is not stupid enough to mess with Leeteuk’s nerves), or Leeteuk needs his help for something, and presumably something big.

Kyuhyun kind of likes the second option more than he will ever show it - and so he keeps an inscrutable face when Leeteuk approaches him.

“It’s been some time,” Leeteuk says, next to him, Shindong grins, as if they have planned to start the conversation like this days prior (sometimes Kyuhyun wonders if the two men just plan everything all the time from getting up in the morning to going to sleep in the evening)(after little thinking, Kyuhyun decides that Leeteuk probably does.)

“Indeed,” Kyuhyun answers, “what brings you in here?”

Leeteuk smiles, it’s a particular feature from him, with his dimples that make it recognizable from any other kind of smile.

“I think you know already.” 

Leeteuk is handling him a piece of paper that Kyuhyun takes without looking, he just glances at Leeteuk, questioning.

“Saturday, at 9 pm. The place is written on it as well as some other information.”

Kyuhyun nods and gives a look to Shindong who is waiting still, patiently listening to the weird exchange that not anyone out of the three of them would understand. That’s maybe why Shindong seems so amused by the whole situation. Shindong winks at Kyuhyun and then he and Leeteuk are gone and Kyuhyun is standing in his now empty office, paper in hand, head full of questions he has not dared to ask. He takes a look at what is written on the paper and, eventually, he smiles too.

“Back in business baby,” Kyuhyun whispers to himself, and he can’t help but feel a little bit excited about what is going to happen.

 

**11:42 pm**

 

It’s not that late and Donghae is not particularly tired or anything, but he is not in the mood tonight. He looks around him, from the counter, he has a circular look on everything happening in the club at the moment, and it’s not long before he notices Eunhyuk: the blue-haired boy is playfully dancing with the people around him, not caring about anything but his moves as he sensually slides against a woman who looks at him with a smile and some stars in her eyes. She looks quite nice and Donghae thinks for a moment about going over there and stealing her from Eunhyuk’s grip, just to mess with him a little - Eunhyuk would not be mad too long and Donghae knows that his friend doesn’t usually have to search too much to find someone to spend the night with if he really wants to.

But Donghae is not in the mood tonight, so he just watches from afar, smiling softly as the girl Eunhyuk is playing with seems to totally fall into his trap. Donghae doesn’t know if Eunhyuk has taken some drugs tonight, but if so he looks pretty okay to him for now - but he better keep an eye on him anyway.

Donghae takes a sip of his drink and looks at his phone. He frowns when he sees Leeteuk’s name in his unread texts and wonders if anything has happened for the other man to text him this late. When he opens the text message, he somehow feels relieved. 

_ I need you at The Coroner Saturday. 9 pm. _

_ Please tell Hyukjae, he has changed his phone number again and I’m tired of asking for it. _

_ Take care. _

When he looks up from his phone, Eunhyuk is facing him with a winning grin as he shows Donghae his own phone and the freshly added phone number of the girl he was making out with earlier. 

“It’s my lucky time tonight,” he says, pride echoing in his voice.

Donghae puts his phone away and smiles back.  

“You’ll regret saying this in about ten minutes,” Donghae says. Eunhyuk is offended.

“Why so?”

“Because I know you’ve been drinking too much and you can barely walk straight.”

“Of course I can’t I’m not!”

“What?”

“For God’s sake, Donghae, straight. I’m not straight. It’s a joke. I’m bisexual, not straight, got it?”

Donghae blinks, then nods, then wonder how much alcohol Eunhyuk has been drinking exactly to make such pitiful jokes. Then he remembers that his friend doesn’t need alcohol to joke about his sexual orientation so badly and he cannot help but smile.

“Leeteuk contacted me,” Donghae eventually says after Eunhyuk ordered his maybe tenth drink of the evening (Donghae started paying for it from the sixth.)

Eunhyuk frowns at him. “What does he want?”

“We’ve got a meeting on Saturday. He asks for you too.”

Eunhyuk sighs and takes a sip from Donghae’s drink because his takes too long to come - Donghae doesn’t mind, really, he is so used to his friend’s chaotical behavior that he doesn't even say anything anymore, he just rolls with it, they just work like this and it’s perfectly fine.

“The Coroner?” Eunhyuk asks after Donghae has shown him the text, “Isn’t it Heechul’s bar?”

Donghae shrugs. “I guess.”

“And is Yesung coming?”

Donghae shrugs again. “Probably.”

“I don’t wanna see Yesung and I still don’t trust Heechul. Why does Leeteuk keep working with them? They’re both too weird.”

“You just don’t like them.”

“Yeah maybe, but still. I think we should be more careful.”

Donghae doesn’t really react to Eunhyuk’s complaining - he is used to it, and also very aware of the fact that his friend is drunk and in no state to have a rational and impartial point of view on the situation. 

Eunhyuk’s drink arrives and he takes a long sip from it before taking something out of his pocket. Donghae watches as his best friend mechanically puts the white powder on the counter and arranges it in a thin line. Eunhyuk takes it in one shot, ignoring the bartender’s frown and Donghae’s worried look. 

“Why do you keep doing this?” Donghae genuinely asks, because he doesn’t understand, has never really understood and will probably never understand - as Eunhyuk had said himself once.

“Better question: why don’t you try it out?”

Donghae blinks, taken aback: Eunhyuk is smiling slyly at him, wiping away the last powdery particle of under his nose. He doesn’t really need an answer, he doesn’t even wait for one, he is already back on the dance floor and Donghae can only watch as his friend loses himself in the crowd once more. 

  
  


**Friday, May 3rd**

**2:33 am**

 

Heechul had always loved encoding message: it was both entertaining and a way for him to train his mind. He was usually doing this in the middle of the night, in the dark of his room, the only light coming from his computer as he was giving Siwon all the information he had been able to gather together during the past months. Heechul had started doing this about six months after his beginning as an undercover cop, just to avoid any potential suspicion from anyone. Now he would only give Siwon a quick hint on what he was doing every three months or so - he didn’t see the point in doing it more often, it would have just been counterproductive, and he knew Shindong was always on the lookout. 

Heechul sighs as he finally presses “enter” and watches as the file he locked under tons of passwords is sent from his temporary e-mail address to another one and then to some dark network Heechul has no control over but knows will eventually lead the way to the police's computers somehow. Siwon will probably read his message tomorrow, after Ryeowook’s work on the whole decoding process. 

Heechul yawns and stretches: he is awfully tired and his bed seems to be calling him. He leaves his computer shut and joins his room while taking a look at his phone - Leeteuk’s message from earlier is still there and he reads it one last time before deleting it (never let any proof of anything, that was the first rule). He probably won’t forget what it said anyway since the meeting takes place in his own bar, he will have to be there whether he likes it or not.

Heechul finds his cat, Heebum, sleeping on his bed and he purrs when Heechul pets him. Heechul smiles. He has come a long way until this day, he knows it, and he also knows that now is not the time to fuck everything up. He’s so close…  _ they are _ so close to their goal, Leeteuk and his gang are only one foot away, and all Heechul has to do is to walk toward them, extend a hand, and get them. They probably won’t understand what is happening to them, and if they do, it will be too late already.

Heechul must admit that he is proud of himself. Four years undercover to finally have a tangible outcome to this neverending act he has been doing for so long - it’s almost a relief. 

Heechul thinks about Leeteuk: the man has probably no idea of what is going to happen, and it’s all the more pleasurable; Heechul can’t wait to see his face when he’ll realize that he has not been so much in control as he thought. Oh, glorious hour to come, Heechul is really expecting a lot from this ending. 

Happy with himself, he joins Heebum on the bed and falls asleep rather quickly.

 

**2:57 am**

 

Ryeowook feels himself dozing off when the little ring of a received message on the main computer drags him out of his half coma (he is tired, he can feel it, yet he can’t stop himself from taking a look at what it is, because he has to, because if he doesn’t he’ll maybe miss something important and his work doesn’t need that.) Ryeowook may be self-conscious on many things but he won’t acknowledge it so easily (even though Kyungsoo has told him many times to _ take some fucking rest  _ because some days he just looks dead inside when he comes back to the office on the morning with pale skin and large bags under his eyes.) But Ryeowook can’t help it: it’s easier to drown under work than to face his miserable life (or so he says).

Ryeowook rubs his eyes strongly and takes a look at the message: he recognizes it immediately. It’s Heenim’s report, coded of course, and Ryeowook smiles a little thinking about what it is going to take him to decipher it. He looks at the clock on his desk, the bright red numbers give him an hour that he judges not too late for him to start working on it right now (and he can hear Kyungsoo’s voice in his head already, complaining about his tiredness on the next morning, but he doesn’t care).

Ryeowook loves this kind of challenge and Heenim always gives him the bests. He takes a pen and a piece of paper, opens the software he needs, and he doesn’t feel tired anymore when he starts decoding the message. 

 

**8:21 am**

 

Siwon is always the first to arrive at the police station - or so he thought he was because today, the light is already on when he comes in and he can see brown hair between the computers. Siwon sighs because he knows who is there - who shouldn’t be there. He walks toward Ryeowook silently and when he reaches him, he can’t help the smile on his face: the other man is sleeping on his desk, face buried in his arms, breathing softly, he probably has spent the night here and it’s not a good thing, so Siwon is ready to lecture him when he gently shakes his shoulder to wake him up.

Ryeowook almost burst out of sleep, jerking out on his chair, looking around him and not recognizing his room. He stammers some words before realizing Siwon is looking at him, frowning.

“Oh,” Ryeowook says. “Hi!” He smiles but he knows Siwon is not happy with his behavior (he had already told him to take it easy the week before and obviously Ryeowook had not listened to him.)

“Good morning Ryeowook,” Siwon says calmly, “Mind to explain why you stayed here the whole night,  _ again _ ?”

Ryeowook knows that it’s no need to excuse himself, it’s a rhetorical question, so he goes for another strategy and pulls the paper he has been working on the whole night from his desk and holds it to Siwon.

“Heenim sent a mail. I decoded it. Don’t thank me.”

Siwon takes a look at the paper, then at Ryeowook who is smiling despite the bags under his eyes, and then he sighs.

“Alright, I won’t say anything today, but next time I swear you’re getting an official warning for overworking yourself.”

Ryeowook tries to hide his smile but his eyes are glowing with mischief and Siwon knows he cannot be mad at him for long. “Go home now, you need to sleep, you look like a zombie.”

Ryeowook’s smile falls immediately. “But- Heenim’s message?”

“I’m taking care of it, you go to sleep. I’ll brief you.”

Ryeowook wants to protest and say that he is perfectly fine and can handle the day but the look Siwon gives him is enough to stop him. He sighs and muters but surrenders. 

Ryeowook eventually leaves after gathering his things but Siwon is already all focused on the message they have received. He reads carefully, aware of the fact that Heenim sometimes adds other messages between the lines of his original message. However this time it seems pretty clear and Siwon is forced to admit that Ryeowook has done a really good job. 

Siwon smiles. Finally, they have something, something concrete they can rely on: Leeteuk is moving, and Seoul’s police are about to take a step forward on this case. _ It was about damn time _ .


	2. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People meet, people plan, people dance till the end of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyaaa this chapter is quite longer than the previous one, I hope you'll enjoy it!!

**Saturday, May 4th**

**10:54 am**

 

Siwon makes sure that everyone is in before he closes the door of his office, he then goes back to his desk and takes a deep breath. He takes a look at each one of his workmates.

Ryeowook doesn’t seem as tired as the day before: the bags under his eyes are less visible, and he actually looks excited to be there. Next to him, Kyungsoo has a serious look, as always, and he doesn’t react to Baekhyun’s comments on his outfit because Baekhyun just comments everyone’s outfit all the time and nothing ever seems to be good enough for him. Kangin is standing straight, arms crossed, he’s patiently waiting for the meeting to start.

“Okay guys, this is it,” Siwon finally says, “Leeteuk’s gang is on a heist and they’re finally making the move we’ve been expecting for the past three years. Thanks to Ryeowook, we’ve been able to decode Heenim’s last message.”

Ryeowook seems surprised by the mention of his name and tries to avoid his coworkers’ gaze, a little bit embarrassed.

“What do we have?” Kyungsoo asks, always straightforward and professional. 

Siwon takes the paper Ryeowook had given him the day before and hands it to Kyungsoo. “For the moment, only this,” he says, “but it’s enough for us to prepare our plan before Heenim sends his next message, probably during the week.”

“Are we sure he is still clear?” Kangin asks, and Baekhyun answers before Siwon, “Of course he is! Why wouldn’t he? You don’t trust him?”

“Hey, calm down,” Siwon interrupts before Kangin can answer.

Baekhyun had always been close to Heenim, not as much as Siwon (they had been partners and they always had a privileged relationship), but Baekhyun was Heenim’s cadet and the two of them were really getting along back when he was still working with them at the precinct. 

It’s been four years now that Heenim has left to be undercover, and the times he had met them in person had not been much; on top of that, Siwon was usually meeting him alone. Their last conversation face to face dated back to five months before anyway.

That’s why Siwon understands Kangin’s reluctance to believe in Heenim’s loyalty, he himself is sometimes seized by doubt, but he can’t show it to the others: trust in the only thing that must remain between them at all cost because if it doesn’t, they’re doomed to fail somehow.

“Heenim’s message is clear: Leeteuk is on something, something big enough for him to gather the gang and have the full team. They have a meeting tonight to discuss the details, and here are the guys who will probably be there,” Siwon says before turning to the board behind him where he had already hung some pictures. He points at the first one: it’s blurry but they are all able to identify a profile, smiling, and some distinctive dimple.

“Leeteuk, of course. We still haven’t found out his real name but this picture enabled us to identify him physically three years ago, during his last robbery, and we followed most of his trips since then. He’s currently in town.”

Siwon then points at the second picture: even blurrier than the first one, the only distinctive thing is a pair of eyes. 

“Eunhyuk, aka Lee Hyukjae, has been seen last Thursday in a nightclub. We already arrested him twice in possession of drug but the charges weren’t enough to keep him. He’s got a sister and his mum to take care of and is probably the most unstable member of the gang.”

They nod, Siwon keeps talking.

“Shin Dong Hee,” he says while pointing at a clean picture, “is known to be linked to Leeteuk through offshore bank accounts where they deposit the money, but we haven’t been able to link this to their last robbery.”

Siwon then points at the last picture, also cleaner, of a classy brown-haired man, “Kim Jongwoon is suspected to be part of the gang as well for his skills in jewelry and authentication, we’re keeping a careful eye on him.”

Then Siwon points at two sheets of paper also pinned to the board: they both show a question mark.

“Heenim also told us that there were two other members we, unfortunately, do not know anything about. One of them seems to be close to Leeteuk somehow, maybe a relative, and the other one is a complete mystery.”

Siwon remains silent for a moment and it’s just enough for Baekhyun to make a comment.

“We kinda miss some people, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?” Ryeowook asks, frowning.

“Well…” Baekhyun hesitates a little, “Since Sungmin left, we’re kinda undermanned. I mean, the cadets are great but for a case like this…”

“I agree,” Kangin says, and even Siwon is surprised to see him approve of Baekhyun. “Without Heenim nor Sungmin, we’re outnumbered.”

Siwon pauses at that. Sungmin had left the same year Heenim had been sent undercover. He had actually been transferred to another precinct on his own application, and his reasons were, even though he never told anyone but Siwon about it, that he was feeling rather uncomfortable with his duo (who was Kangin at the time) and Heenim (who, to be honest, was making a lot of people uncomfortable with his incessant flirting.)

But Baekhyun was right: if they wanted to do the job well, they needed to be on the full team too.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Siwon eventually says. “Are you guys at least clear with the information we got so far?”

They all nod.

“Alright, great. Then Ryeowook and Kyungsoo, I want you on Leeteuk and Lee Hyukjae: I want to know where they are and what they are doing when they are doing it.”

“On it,” Ryeowook answers with a smile.

“Baekhyun, find me all the important events that are happening in the next weeks, whatever that might be leading to a robbery.”

“You got it, boss,” Siwon rolls his eyes but doesn’t raise it.

“Kangin, do you still have your nark in the drug trafficking?”

Kangin nods.

“Well, we’re gonna need him.”

 

**Saturday, May 4th**

**8:46 pm**

 

Heechul watches them as they all arrive, one by one or so, to his bar which has been closed earlier for the meeting. The first one to show up is Leeteuk, of course. He has to be the first, has to plan the meeting, has to check that everything is in order once, then double-checks, just for the sake of controlling everything. Heechul finds it rather fun to watch as the man carefully writes in his notebook (Heechul has never seen Leeteuk without this notebook and he had planned on stealing it to take a look at it and maybe some pictures more than once.) Heechul joins him with, in his hands, a beer for himself and a glass of water for Leeteuk - because Leeteuk doesn’t drink. The man eventually looks up from his writing when Heechul sits in front of him and puts the drink on the table.

“Thanks,” Leeteuk whispers with a smile and Heechul smiles back because he can’t resist the dimples of the other man.

Heechul takes a sip of his own drink as he watches Leeteuk immediately going back to his writing, nothing seems to be able to disturb him and Heechul doesn’t know if he is more impressed or annoyed by this powerful ability that he doesn’t have himself - he knows too well how easily he can be distracted, for example by Leeteuk’s dimples every time the man smiles, even though Heechul pretends not to notice. 

He is about to ask Leeteuk what he is so carefully writing in his damn book when Shindong shows up. He greets Heechul cordially and sits right next to the elder, they immediately start to discuss quietly and Heechul acts like he doesn’t pay attention.

The next one to arrive is Kyuhyun: he’s got a black briefcase in his hand and he keeps it close when he sits next to Heechul, greeting him with a smile. Heechul had always liked Kyuhyun the most among the gang because he had a sharp tongue and an efficient mind and he found himself laughing rather often at the man’s comments - most particularly when they were meant to tease the others. 

Donghae arrives next, right on time when Heechul checks his watch, and of course he takes the other seat next to Leeteuk: Heechul knows that the two of them are the closest among the group and he had often made up theories about their past, wondering about their relationship and what was behind it (hell, he had even thought that they were dating once, before realizing his huge mistake and figuring out that, first, Donghae seemed way more interested in women, and second, that Leeteuk considered him as a brother figure if anything else.)

Yesung arrives soon after, makeup and earrings on, his look is as perfect as always and Heechul has never regretted to have hit on him that time there was just the two of them, a couple of months prior; the sex had been great and Yesung wasn’t the kind to be ill-at-ease easily so they had gone on after that without even thinking about it. Leeteuk and Shindong probably know about this, but none of them ever mentioned it and it wasn’t a bad thing.

Eunhyuk shows up ten minutes late, just when Heechul comes back from the bar with some more drinks for the others. He’s got his glasses on and his hair is a mess, everyone stares at him and Heechul can see the look Leeteuk gives him (disapproving and a little annoyed), but he doesn’t make a comment.

However, Yesung does.

“You can’t be conscientious at least once in your life, can you?”

Eunhyuk gives him a death stare but doesn’t answer, so Yesung smirks. “I bet you lost yourself into your white powder again…”

“Yesung, it’s enough.”

Leeteuk’s voice is calm but firm, and Yesung shrugs but doesn’t reply. Eunhyuk sits next to Donghae who gives him a low-key worried look that his best friend simply ignores.

Heechul is used to Yesung and Eunhyuk’s fightings, they are doing it all the time, they can’t be together in the same room more than half an hour before pouncing on each other (and not only metaphorically). But tonight Leeteuk is too serious and focused to let them scream and fight like children, tonight they must discuss some important business and they are all pretty aware of it, and maybe Heechul even more than the others.

 

When Leeteuk eventually starts to speak after having given each of them a piece of paper with the same information on it, they all listen carefully. 

“I’m glad you’re all here tonight,” Leeteuk starts, “I won’t be too long with the details tonight, we’re not here for that yet. However, I would like you to pay attention because I won’t say things twice.” And his eyes go to Yesung and Eunhyuk as he speaks, they both nod, understanding.

Then Leeteuk shows them a picture. 

“This is our target.”

Kyuhyun frowns. “I know him,” and Leeteuk has a crooked grin on his face, “Of course you do,” he says, “You’re here for a reason.”

“He is good-looking,” Heechul notices, “I wouldn’t mind getting in his bed.”

Leeteuk keeps smiling when he answers: “Go for it then.”

There is a short silence when Heechul tries to process what the other man has just said, looking at him, oblivious, but Leeteuk doesn’t bother to explain what he means. He is already on something else, professional, efficient, always. Heechul turns to Shindong who just shrugs, he doesn’t exactly know what Leeteuk meant either.

“This man,” Leeteuk says while pointing at the picture, “is Kim Junmyeon. You may know him because of his father’s company: Protech Industries.”

Everything seems more obvious now and it doesn’t take long for all of them to understand what the job is going to be about.

“Kim’s dad died two months ago and since then he has been dealing with some inheritance procedures. Long story short: he will finally sign the notarised agreement on the first of June.”

“That gives us less than a month,” Eunhyuk points out.

“It’ll be enough.” Leeteuk answers, “We’re not going to kidnap Kim nor steal the papers. This was just to set the context. Now this,” and he shows another picture, “is what we’re going to steal.”

“Woah, is this…?” Kyuhyun starts. Leeteuk cuts him, smiling. “Yes, it is.”

The picture is of a gemstone, but not just any gemstone: a diamond. And a huge one. Yesung’s eyes seem to be glimmering with envy as he slowly recognizes it.

“It’s The Great Mogul,” he whispers, “I thought it was lost!”

Leeteuk shakes his head slowly. “Supposedly lost in 1739, it has reappeared three years ago in Kim Junmyeon’s father’s private collection. It is right now carefully locked up in Protech Industries main building. But…”

All eyes are focused on Leeteuk right now, and he likes to hit its mark this way, he cannot help the smile when Yesung asks, impatiently: “But?”

“But for once, the strongbox where it’s hidden will be opened to get the company’s deed of property which is kept there as well, since Kim will have to sign it to get his inheritance. Which means that we’ve got a chance.”

“How much is it?” Eunhyuk asks abruptly. 

“Look at your paper,” Leeteuk answers.

Donghae is the first to react, almost whispering: “Thirty-five million…”

There is a heavy silence as they are all trying to process what they’ve just heard.

“Thirty-five…” Eunhyuk repeats.

Leeteuk lets them have some time to clear their mind but he is still smiling when he speaks again.

“Now that you know about the target, let me tell you about the plan.”

And all eyes are focused on him again, listening, attentive. 

 

**Sunday, May 5th**

**1:12 pm**

 

When Leeteuk enters the house, he is first greeted by the dog that runs toward him and almost jumps on his laps. He laughs and pets him as the dog’s tail rips strong through the air when suddenly another thing this time literally jumps in his arms after running down the corridor.

“Daddy!” The little boy exclaims and Leeteuk smiles softly as he lifts him up to carry him in arms.

“Hey Hyunsoo,” he says softly, before giving a peck on the kid’s cheek. “How are you, sweetheart?”

Hyunsoo giggles and hides his face in his dad’s neck. “I’m fine.” He says, but then he immediately pouts.  “Mummy said I’m not going with you today, why?”

Leeteuk bites his lip but keeps the smile on as he looks at his son in the eyes. He puts a finger on his nose and the kid frowns.

“Because I have some important things to do during the next weeks and I can’t see you until it’s done.”

“But why?” Hyunsoo asks again, and Leeteuk laughs softly because his son’s frown is really cute and always reminds him of his mother.

“I’ll tell you later,” he eventually answers, “now don’t you want to say hi to our guest?” Leeteuk asks with a mischievous smile as he turns around to show Hyunsoo who was quietly hiding behind him the whole time.

“Uncle Hae!” Hyunsoo screams in Leeteuk’s ear, but he doesn’t mind. Hyunsoo almost jumps out of his dad’s arm to run into Donghae’s legs.

Leeteuk watches with tenderness as Donghae takes Hyunsoo in his own arms to greet him and tell him how much he has grown up since last time he had seen him. 

Leeteuk wasn’t someone to soften easily, he was usually harsh and, though he smiled sometimes, his eyes were more likely to be cold when he did. He didn’t like to show his emotions nor express his feelings directly, not that he didn’t know how to do it, but he just acted like he didn’t have any to avoid not being taken seriously: he was a leader and he had to show the example. 

However, when it came to his son, Leeteuk was the most gentle person in the world. He just couldn’t help it: he loved Hyunsoo with all his heart and always did everything he could for him. He couldn’t see him really often since Sora and he had broken up and so he was always spoiling him when he got to see him, giving him gifts and taking him to all the fast food restaurants Hyunsoo’s mum wouldn’t let him go to.

To be honest, Donghae was quite the same. He and Leeteuk were just fond of Hyunsoo (and the kid was probably taking advantage of it sometimes.)

 

Sora suddenly appears at the door and she joins them.

“Hi boys, how are you doing?” she asks with a smile.

The two men smile back. They both know that they can’t tell her about what is going on precisely, not anymore because Sora is no more part of the gang since she decided to leave five years ago. But they trust her enough to at least talk to her.

“You know, always the same routine, meeting up, finding a plan, avoiding Yesung and Eunhyuk’s fights.”

“These two aren’t together yet?”

Leeteuk laughs this time. “Sora… they hate each other!”

Sora smiles and gives a look to Donghae who just smiles back (they both know that Leeteuk is completely oblivious to this kind of thing). Then she asks, always smiling:

“What about Heechul?”

“What about him?” Leeteuk asks back, frowning because Sora has never met the man (he doesn’t even know she exists) and yet she keeps asking about him.

“I heard he was hitting on you.”

“What? He doesn’t.” And Leeteuk tries hard not to burst out of laughter because, really, this is too funny to hear.

“He totally does,” Donghae repeats and Leeteuk swears he wants to punch him in the face when he has this smirk on his lips. Leeteuk is about to answer something because now he is kind of upset and he doesn’t like that, but Hyunsoo suddenly decides that the adults are not paying him enough attention.

“Daddy I want to go to the movie with you! I want to see Detective Pikachu!”

Sora sighs: “We went yesterday sweetheart…”

“But I wanna go again! With daddy! And uncle Hae!”

Hyunsoo doesn’t really understand why the adults laugh at that so he pouts and frowns and complains that they are making fun of him. Leeteuk immediately stops laughing and smiles tenderly at his son, he squats down to face him and takes his hand.

“We can’t today honey, we came to see you because uncle and Hae and I are going away for a little while.”

Hyunsoo’s face breaks as he understands what his dad is saying. However, he doesn’t throw a tantrum and just gently hugs Leeteuk, a hug as tight as five years old can give. 

“It’s okay, I promise when we’re back we’ll take you to the movie every day of the week.”

Sora gives him a disapproving look but it’s too late, Hyunsoo is excited all over again. “Yes! I can’t wait! Come back soon! I wanna see Detective Pikachu every day with you!”

Leeteuk smiles, and so does Donghae. 

With the exception of Shindong, no one within the group knows about Hyunsoo, and Leeteuk attends to keep it this way. To protect Hyunsoo from his illegal activities had always been Leeteuk’s first priority, ever since he knew that the cops had got his picture, he had made sure not to be recognizable when he was seeing him. But now that they are getting into some more serious business, Leeteuk just can’t risk anything more, and he and Donghae both know it’s better to just not see Hyunsoo for a while. Sora understands. She knows all about their activities, she was even part of it once, back when she was dating Leeteuk. But she had also made him sworn to never ever bring it to Hyunsoo, and Leeteuk was a man of his word.

However, Leeteuk still wants to enjoy some time with his son, and Donghae with his nephew by heart, before they leave for their current job, and Sora made a pie, so they sit around the table and Hyunsoo is really happy to spend the afternoon with his family, even when he doesn’t always understand what they are talking about.

 

**Thursday, May 9th**

**11:23 pm**

 

Kyuhyun had say yes to Eunhyuk because he didn’t want to offend him more than because he actually wanted to go - as much as Kyuhyun liked Eunhyuk, he was more into nice and quiet bar with some muted atmosphere than clubs with loud music and energetic people dancing all over the place (that was Eunhyuk’s style, definitely, and Kyuhyun wondered how Donghae could put up with him sometimes, the two of them seemed way too much unalike to him). 

However, Kyuhyun had said yes and he was not the kind of man to renege. That’s why he is now standing against the bar’s counter, waiting for his drink while watching Eunhyuk having the time of his life on the dancefloor. He smiles a little when he thinks about how high the blue-haired man must be to be so reckless - Leeteuk would probably not approve of such behavior. But Leeteuk is not here, and Eunhyuk is having fun, and now that Kyuhyun has his drink in his hand, he thinks that, yes, maybe he does deserve some fun time too. He turns to Donghae after taking a sip of his mojito.

“Aren’t you gonna dance?” Kyuhyun asks.

“Not yet,” Donghae answers, “It’s too early.”

Kyuhyun can see him smiling through red and purple lights and he’s not exactly sure of what Donghae means, so he takes another sip of his drink and shrugs.

“Alright,” Kyuhyun feels the taste of alcohol on his tongue and he licks his upper lip, “Well, I’m going if you don’t mind. I’d better enjoy my free time before your brother makes me live at the office.”

They both laugh but they know that Kyuhyun is right: once the job will be fully begun, they won’t have so much time to go to parties like this anymore, because Leeteuk will want them to be focused and in good shape, and the only one who can do the work and still be up all night is Eunhyuk, a fact both his friends are really aware.

Kyuhyun takes the last sip of his already half drunk mojito and puts it back on the counter before finally joining Eunhyuk on the dancefloor. The elder doesn’t hide his smile when he sees Kyuhyun dancing next to him. He wants to make a sly comment about his moves but he notices that Kyuhyun is actually not bad at all and he hides a laugh when he sees how the people around them make some space to let them dance; soon they are in the middle of a circle and they totally have stolen the show. 

That is until someone joins them with some smooth moves that have the crowd almost cheering.

“Hae!” Eunhyuk exclaims, “You’re dancing at last!”

“I thought you were never going to take your ass off of that fucking chair,” Kyuhyun says mockingly.

Donghae only smiles and shrugs before winking at some girl he has an eye on for about an hour now. Eunhyuk understands almost immediately.

“Ooh, someone’s getting laid tonight,” he says just loud enough for his two friends to hear, grinning, and Donghae gives him a nudge that easily looks like a dance move. But Eunhyuk is not stupid and soon their dance begins to transform into a battle, both smiling as they try to take the best cheerings from the improvised audience. 

Kyuhyun can’t compete with them at this point, so he slowly dances away from them and let them have the time of their life, but his smile doesn’t fade away and he cheers at them just as much as the people around him. 

“Your dance was good too.” says a voice next to him.

Kyuhyun slightly turns to see who is talking and despite the bad light of the club, he is able to look at the young man who just complimented him: brown hair, a thin smile - and a cute face, Kyuhyun thinks.

“Thanks, but they’re definitely better than me at this.”

The man laughs, a nice laugh that doesn’t even offend Kyuhyun even though he knows the stranger is making fun of him.

“I bet you beat them on other things,” he suggests with a somehow mischievous smile that makes Kyuhyun laugh.

“Yeah,” he answers, “I’m clever and more handsome.”

The man keeps smiling but Kyuhyun notices how he chews on his lower lip. He takes a look at Donghae and Eunhyuk who have stopped their dance fight and are now both close to some girls Kyuhyun doesn’t know.

“I kinda agree on this,” the young man eventually says, “I’m Ryeowook by the way.” 

“Kyuhyun,” answers Kyuhyun, and he has trouble getting his eyes away from the man’s lips now - probably because of the alcohol which Kyuhyun can feel is making him a little tipsy now that it has gone up to his head. “May I offer you a drink?” he asks nonetheless.

Ryeowook’s smile seems to get wider and he nods, then follows him to the bar.

 

**Friday, May 10th**

**2:52 am**

 

Kyuhyun had left the nightclub about half an hour before, he had not seen Donghae in the crowd and had supposed that his friend had found some girl to spend the night with. However he had found Eunhyuk still in, but the blue-haired man was wasted with alcohol and whatever drug he had taken during the night, and Kyuhyun had had to carry him outside the club and call a taxi to send him back home - which was rather annoying - nonetheless Ryeowook helped him - which was actually a good thing. 

However they are both pretty drunk now, and walking is something they do slowly, stopping every two meters to laugh at anything really, not exactly talking, exchanging thoughts without thinking properly, both feeling dizzy. But Kyuhyun knows that he is having fun, and he guesses by the sound of Ryeowook’s laugh that so does he. They keep bumping into each other when they walk and it makes them laugh even more uncontrollably every time. 

Kyuhyun recalls that he has accepted to take Ryeowook to his flat with something clear in mind at first but now he is too tipsy to feel like it and he honestly hopes that the other man won’t be too mad at him - they have talked a lot at the bar and Ryeowook seems to be both cute and impetuous which Kyuhyun likes somehow, but it also scares him a little because the other man is sometimes difficult to follow.

When they reach Ryeowook’s flat, they’re both so drunk they just sit on the ground first, right in front of Ryeowook’s building, and start giggling again about some weird shaped tree on the other side of the street that apparently looks like a huge potato.

“I want to eat it,” Ryeowook says, suddenly dead serious, and Kyuhyun burst out of laughter once more.

“You’re dumb,” he says, “You can’t eat trees. Trees are not good.”

“But we eat salad. That’s basically grass. Why don’t we eat trees?”

Kyuhyun doesn’t know what to say to this and he is laughing too hard to give him a proper answer anyway.

They eventually calm down after a while, and suddenly Ryeowook stands up. Kyuhyun watches him as he carefully dusts his shirt and then gives him a hand to help him stand up too. Kyuhyun takes it and then they’re both on their feet, facing each other, smiling still.

“I’m too drunk to let you in,” Ryeowook says.

“Yeah, and I’m too drunk to ask you to,” Kyuhyun answers.

They laugh again, Kyuhyun really enjoys this.

“Give me your phone,” Ryeowook suddenly orders, and Kyuhyun frowns, but gives him his phone anyway. Ryeowook takes it and goes through his contacts without noticing the messages nor the names he sees on the little screen, too drunk for that. After a few seconds, he hands back the phone to Kyuhyun.

“I’ll see you then,” Ryeowook says with a mischievous smile, and Kyuhyun doesn’t have the time to say anything: Ryeowook stands on tiptoe to reach his face and kiss him on the cheek, the next second he has disappeared inside the building.

Kyuhyun stands still a few more minutes, a soft smile on his face before he turns around and heads to his own flat.

Tonight was a good night, he thinks, and he checks on what Ryeowook has done with his phone earlier. it doesn’t take too long for him to notice that he now has a new contact, and he can’t help the smile on his face. Ryeowook has added himself under the name of “Wookie~~” and this is maybe the cutest thing Kyuhyun has ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aesthetic for the boys will be added to Twitter anytime soon, you can check it out on @spleenasty! Thank you for reading and comments and kudos are always appreciated, let me know what you're expecting next!!


	3. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for some people to face the reality of the situation, and it doesn't really seem appealing to everyone. Maybe this job wasn't going to be that easy to fulfill, maybe the gang wasn't going to be that easy to arrest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here!! I'm so so sorry for the delay: I've been caught up with uni, then with my vacations, then by uni again and I must admit that I don't have the time to do a lot of things anymore. But this chapter was in my drafts for too long and I definitely needed to get it out of my head for good. Thank you for keeping up with me and enjoy the reading!  
> Also, Suju's new album is a bop and let's say that is my way of celebrating the fact that they're finally all reunited again!!! I'm so so happy!!

**Friday, May 10th**

**00:41 am**

 

Baekhyun has lost Ryeowook for more than an hour now, but he is not worried: they had not planned to stick together the whole night anyway, and he knows his elder to be responsible enough not to get involved in too chaotic situations. 

Baekhyun sips on his drink as he watches the crowd dancing in front of him, he’ll probably join in soon enough, but he wants to finish his drink first, and from where he is, he’s got a perfect view of the man for who he had came here in the first place. 

When Baekhyun had suggested they’d follow Lee Hyukjae for an evening to see if they could find anything new about him or his teammates, Kyungsoo had said no right away, knowing perfectly that “following” always meant so much more for Baekhyun, who would always drag them into some weird places where they had never planned to go in the first place.

Ryeowook had said why not.

They ended up in this club and found Lee dancing in the middle of the crowd with other people, obviously high on drugs, which wasn’t unexpected however. 

After a little while, Ryeowook asked something among the lines of “We aren’t here only for Lee, are we?” and Baekhyun just smiled and shrugged, so Ryeowook left with a laugh and the idea to enjoy his evening anyhow.

Baekhyun stayed focused on Lee. Eventually, at some point, their gaze met. 

When Eunhyuk comes his way, Baekhyun doesn’t run away but smiles and takes another sip of his drink.

“I hadn’t seen you for a long time,” Eunhyuk comments after asking the barman for a shot of whiskey.

“I’d say it’s because I don’t come here often but I think it’s more because you’re here every night.”

Eunhyuk laughs and takes the drink the barman hands him. He drinks it up right away and puts back the glass on the counter. His smile doesn’t disappear when he asks: “Are you still up with Loey?”

Baekhyun can’t restrain his own laugh this time: “Dude, we hooked up once, and it was six months ago, update yourself!”

Eunhyuk just shrugs, he probably won’t remember this piece of information tomorrow, and he doesn’t really care. He gives Baekhyun a nod before leaving him at the counter to get back on the dancefloor.

Baekhyun observes him and can’t help but wonder how Lee is going to make it in the job if he’s high like this all the time - though that might be the thing they precisely need: a free spirit is always something one can’t entirely control, and Leeteuk might be control-freak, if Eunhyuk missteps, he won’t be able to save his back all the time.

Baekhyun takes the last sip of his drink and eventually leaves the place, contented.

 

**Friday, May 10th**

**8:32 pm**

 

Kangin adjusts his coat when he reaches the dark, foggy street where his appointment is taking place. He finds the man right where he always meets him: behind a stack of old furnitures which have been waiting there for the past five years or so, no one caring enough to throw them into a dump or something. Kangin approaches the man who is smoking silently, leaning against the wall behind him, his eyes almost shining under his black strands of hair. 

“What’s up?” 

Kangin doesn’t answer, doesn’t care for the smirk coming with the question.

“You know him, right?” Kangin asks, handing a picture in the feeble light of the street. The man frowns while looking at the picture, then nods, takes a cigarette pack from his pocket and lights one from it to replace the one he just finished.

“I’d like to have proper answers, Zhoumi, don’t waste my time.”

Zhoumi’s eyes seem to be glimmering with hatred for a second, but it’s too fast for Kangin to notice. Zhoumi takes a puff and blows it at Kangin’s face.

“Yes. I know him. Been selling some to him just yesterday. What do you want with him?”

“I’m the one asking questions.”

Zhoumi rolls his eyes.

“Was he alone?”

“Yeah,” Zhoumi answers, takes another puff, then adds, “people don’t usually come in group to buy drugs, smartass.”

He has a smile that Kangin hates, and it’s hard not to punch it right away. But he knows that Zhoumi likes to play, that’s also why he had agreed to collaborate with the police and become their touch in the drug cartel in the first place, “I like entertainment,” he had said, even though he was mostly obliged by the jail threat Kangin had thrown at him.

Working with Zhoumi was risky, and Kangin certainly did not trust him, but he could give some nice information sometimes, most particularly when the police was interested in people he himself had business to finish with (it was always easier to send the cop and the law after someone than get your own hands dirty.)

“Has he been taking a lot lately?”

“What do you mean?” Zhoumi frowns.

“Did he buy more than the usual?”

Zhoumi takes a moment, then shrugs.

“Man, I don’t know, I’m not his personal doc. Maybe yeah. He just tends to take a lot everytime, more than my others clients anyway.”

Kangin keeps this information in mind.

“Did you see anyone with him when you met?”

“Seriously?” This time Zhoumi looks rather annoyed, “Listen, I’m all for the drug cartel stuff with you guys, but Eunhyuk is nowhere near drug dealing, he just buys for himself, and I honestly don’t see where you’re going with your damn questions.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Alright mate, I got it, then Eunhyuk’s friends are none of your business either.”

The cigarette falls from Zhoumi’s lips when Kangin catches his collar and pins him to the wall. He’s not angry, but his patience is reaching its limits and he is not exactly in the mood to let Zhoumi have his little friendly friendship bullshit. Zhoumi doesn’t believe in friendship, and Kangin already knows all about it.

“Listen to me, you little shit, I’ve still got your conviction somewhere in my office and I’ll fucking use it if you don’t give me what I want, understood?”

Zhoumi’s gaze is challenging, but he only nods, and Kangin lets go of him.

“He was with two other guys,” Zhoumi eventually says after taking another cigarette from his packet, “one is a close friend of him, I always see them together. I don’t know who is the other guy. He looked neat and tidy and clearly not the kind to spend a night in a club.”

“You saw their faces?”

Zhoumi takes the time to think about it before answering.

“The funny guy was tall, brown hair. The friend one was quite handsome, dark hair. I couldn’t exactly see their faces.”

Kangin swears internally because Zhoumi’s description corresponds to probably eighty percent of Korea’s masculine population, but he is aware of the fact that Zhoumi won’t give him more than this. At least he knows that Eunhyuk is not alone, and if his police teammates did the job well, they will soon be able to identify who the people Eunhyuk is friend with are, and maybe who the last members of the team are as well.

Kangin still needs to check on something before leaving. He hands Zhoumi four other pictures. 

“Do any of these men ring a bell?” He asks as Zhoumi takes a better look at the faces of Leeteuk’s gang.

After a few seconds, Zhoumi points at Yesung’s picture.

“I saw him once or twice,” and then he puts his finger on Heechul’s picture, “and him too. I don’t know the other two. But those guys weren’t the ones with Eunhyuk.”

Kangin nods then he puts the pictures away. “Alright. Thank you for this, I’ll see you soon.” Zhoumi doesn’t answer. 

Kangin has got what he wanted and he doesn’t need to stay there any longer. He leaves Zhoumi and his third cigarette without a word. 

 

**Saturday, May 11th**

**10:05 am**

 

Leeteuk’s office was white and bright and Chanyeol always felt like he had to wear sunglasses in it. He didn’t really like it, he preferred cosy places, less formal, but more comfy and welcoming. He knew he wasn’t made for offices, yet Leeteuk always made him meet there, and the fact that he didn’t like it was maybe the exact reason why Leeteuk wouldn’t let him any choice about it. (And anyway, Chanyeol was not stupid enough to challenge his orders.)

Shindong is there too, confident and always warmer than Leeteuk - though Leeteuk wasn’t exactly cold, he just seemed so… unreachable, Chanyeol sometimes wondered how anyone could get close to him, most particularly Sora. They were so different (except for the part where they both enjoyed heist too much for their own good) yet he had observed them getting close, and as long as Chanyeol could remember, he had never seen Leeteuk smile the way he was smiling with Sora.

“This is going to be tricky,” Leeteuk comments before handing Chanyeol some files he has yet to read, “but I know you’ll manage.”

Chanyeol nods without saying anything. He glances at Shindong who just shrugs - it’s always like this with Shindong, he acts like he doesn’t know anything about anything, most particularly about what is in Leeteuk’s mind, when Chanyeol perfectly knows that Shindong is just putting an act, that he has every card in hand, just as much as Leeteuk or so. Chanyeol doesn’t usually play along Shindong’s game of pretence, but today he’s too intrigued by the “tricky” job to care.

“How much?” He eventually asks, “Enough,” Leeteuk answers with a smile - and again, it isn’t a warm smile, but Chanyeol is satisfied with it.

“I need you to be ready on the exact places and at the exact time I wrote in the file. This is going to be one of our biggest jobs by far and I need you to always be ready and set.” 

Chanyeol can hear that Leeteuk is particularly invested and serious about this, so he nods. “I can do that. You know me, I never let you down.” There is an implicit barb in his sentence but if Leeteuk gets it, he doesn’t comment on it - Shindong however does frown, and Chanyeol cannot help the little smirk that appears on his face when he notices it. Shindong is not the only one close enough to Leeteuk to know certain things here, and Chanyeol intends to show it.

“What car?” Chanyeol asks again, and this time he is really interested in the answer that may come. Leeteuk hands him an illustrated magazine with a little smile. “You choose.”

Chanyeol is really glad to read the name “Mercedes- Benz” on the front cover because he had always preferred german engines.

 

**Monday, May 13th**

**11:48 pm**

 

The place is crowded with people and Zhoumi has to make his way through it without dropping his drink, which is a harder task than what he expected. He doesn’t know why Eunhyuk likes this kind of place: swamped of sweaty, smelling people that only want to grab each other’s phone number, or each other’s tongue. Zhoumi wonders to which category Eunhyuk belongs, but he already has an idea about it. He lets out a sigh when someone bumps into him, but smiles anyway, because he’s not a jerk - or at least tries not to be. The girl that almost hit him with her elbow smiles back, she looks cute, Zhoumi thinks about asking for her phone number, but he catches sight of some blue hair, few meters away from him, and has to let the girl go without a word but a small “Hi.”  _ A bit pathetic _ , he thinks for himself, before remembering that this is why he didn’t like clubs in the first place: he couldn’t get himself to hook up with anyone in the end anyway, almost like he needed real relationships to feel confident enough to act on something. How unfortunate. How did people do that anyway? It never really felt real to him, all these people, all that music, all these lights.  _ God _ , he didn’t even like to drink that much.

“Sup?” 

Hyukjae’s voice gets Zhoumi out of his train of thoughts - he hadn’t realized he had already reached the bar. “What you doing here?”  Hyukjae asks, he seems tired, or just high. Or probably both. 

Zhoumi wants to get out of the club, so he tries to keep it brief. 

“Bad news for you,” Zhoumi says, then sips a little on his drink (too sweet). Hyukjae frowns, that’s probably not what he had expected to hear from his favorite drug-dealer. 

“What do you mean?” He seems all serious now, and Zhoumi can’t help but smile a little. He likes to know things that others don’t, it’s somehow flattering to feel people’s interest for him when they know he has a knowledge they don’t have, Zhoumi feels powerful.

However, he’s not here to play with Eunhyuk. He’s not here to help either, but can’t let Kangin go with what he knows now that Zhoumi told him, without giving at least something to Eunhyuk as well. 

“The cops are after you,” Zhoumi says, “I got to meet one and he wasn’t so happy about you and your little group. I don’t know what’s going on, I didn’t tell him anything since I didn’t know shit, but you better watch out.” 

Eunhyuk seems confused for a few seconds as if he has no idea what Zhoumi is talking about. Then he shrugs. “Alright.” 

Zhoumi waits for something else, anything, any reaction that would show that Eunhyuk cares maybe at least a little, but it doesn’t come. Eunhyuk heard him, but Zhoumi starts wondering if he understood any of what he told him. 

“Are you high?” Zhoumi can’t help but asks. Eunhyuk laughs then pats him on the shoulder, and without a word he leaves Zhoumi to the bar and melts into the crowd. Zhoumi notices that he didn’t even ask him for some. He would have thought it was weird, if he wasn’t already trying to escape the place, his drink left on the counter.  _ Too sweet. _

 

**Tuesday, May 14th**

**3:55 pm**

 

Kyuhyun takes a look at his phone one more time, just to make sure that he is right on time, right on day, and right on place. He hadn’t planned to get a date that fast but he wasn’t complaining either, because Ryeowook was quite his type and seemed to be even more impatient than he was. He was cute through the texts they had exchanged during the week end, Kyuhyun had waited until the Saturday evening to eventually send one, and had got an almost immediate reply. They had not stopped texting each other since then and had set up a date for today. It was nothing too formal, Kyuhyun had just suggested they took a drink in a coffee shop to talk face to face without alcohol in their blood, Ryeowook had agreed. 

Kyuhyun checks on the time again, just when someone taps on his shoulder. He turns to see Ryeowook’s bright smile and glowy eyes.

“Hey, you’re right on time,” Kyuhyun says.

“Hey, are you the kind to say that early is on time, and on time is late?”

Kyuhyun blinks, then laughs, because Ryeowook’s tongue seems to be as sharp as his and it’s not usual to have someone who replies to your sarcasm with the same tone. Kyuhyun likes it.

They sit at a table in the corner of the coffee shop and Kyuhyun orders a hot chocolate while Ryeowook asks for a green tea. They’ve been talking about some ordinary stuff through texts, mostly commenting on what they were doing and complaining about the headache they both had had after the Friday evening. Now that they are face to face, Ryeowook finds himself a little less confident about the whole thing, realizing how it is so much easier for him to chat via texts than have an actual proper conversation without stammering on his words and making disagreeable comments. 

However Kyuhyun doesn’t seem to mind his defensive attitude toward the things that surround them (such as the waiter who forgets to bring him superfine sugar), he even laughs when Ryeowook makes a comment about the floor which doesn’t match the wallpaper according to him. Ryeowook likes this laugh, it makes him smile as well, fondly. 

Kyuhyun drinks his hot chocolate and smiles as he listens to Ryeowook, they talk about anything really, it’s a really enjoyable moment and he is taking the most of it.

“So what do you do for a living?” Kyuhyun eventually asks, their drinks are almost finished.

Ryeowook seems a little bit ill-at-ease with the question, but he answers nonetheless.

“I’m a cop.”

Kyuhyun restrains himself from choking on his drink and he clears his throat loudly, his smile is way tenser all of a sudden, but Ryeowook doesn’t seem to notice.

“Well, I’m like a specialist in profiling,” Kyuhyun nearly chokes on his drink  _ again  _ and decides to put his cup back on the table and to give up on drinking as long as Ryeowook is talking, “but I like my job. And my teammates.”

“Sounds good,” Kyuhyun whispers without looking at him, his eyes attached to his fingers, which are nervously tapping on the table.

“What about you?” 

Kyuhyun takes a deep breath and gets back his smile right away. He knows how to hide his emotions, he has been doing it for a long time.

“I’m a business consultant. I don’t really have teammates but it can be a funny job sometimes.”

Ryeowook nods then asks him a few questions about his job, because he is not really familiar with it, and then they start to talk about something else, but Kyuhyun has a hard time focusing on their talking as he just can’t stop thinking about the fact that he’s flirting with a cop and that it can probably lead him to so much trouble.

It’s like having Leeteuk’s voice in his head, warning him again and again about the risks of the job, but he can only blame it on himself if now he feels uncomfortable. He shouldn’t have asked the question - or maybe it was better like this? Maybe he could cut it off right away and never see Ryeowook again after today, not that he didn’t like him (it was quite the opposite actually), but it was so…  _ fucked up _ . Really, Kyuhyun didn’t know where this was going to lead him and he was not the kind to court disaster. 

“I’d like to see you again,” Ryeowook says with a soft smile, and Kyuhyun immediately snaps back to reality. He smiles too, nods, looks at his empty cup, looks back at Ryeowook.

“Are you okay?” Ryeowook asks, with a worried frown, and Kyuhyun is about to answer when his phone starts ringing.

It’s Heechul.  _ Shit _ .

“I’m really sorry, I need to take this call.” Kyuhyun apologizes. Ryeowook doesn’t say anything and watches him as he stands up and leaves the coffee shop.

 

**Wednesday, May 15th**

**9:27 am**

 

Kyungsoo pretends not to listen to them when Baekhyun walks straight to Ryeowook’s desk after entering the precinct and starts asking him questions about the date the older one had the day before. Baekhyun was always straightforward and when he had an idea in mind it was difficult to take it away from him. Today, his victim would be Ryeowook among others, how unfortunate, Kyungsoo thought, but he was actually smiling inside.

“Soooo, how did it go?” Baekhyun immediately asks after reaching Ryeowook’s desk and put his morning coffee on it, giving the second one to his friend, and the third one to Kyungsoo without even looking at him. The two men both thank him in a breath, and if it’s usual for Kyungsoo, it surely isn’t for Ryeowook. Baekhyun frowns when he notices how the young man looks disappointed.

“What happened?”

Ryeowook shrugs, “Well, not bad actually, not bad at all, except for the part where he dumped me in the middle of the coffee shop to take a call,” he laughs, but it’s quite ironical, and Baekhyun can feel it.

“Oh no he didn’t…” Baekhyun whispers, “This asshole... give me your phone!” he orders suddenly.

“What?” Ryeowook looks confused, “No! What do you wanna do with it?”

“I want to text him to insult him!”

“I doubt that this is a good idea,” Kyungsoo comments from his side of the desk.

“Yeah, me too,” adds Ryeowook and he hides his phone in his pocket before Baekhyun can touch it. “Listen, he wasn’t mean or anything, he just had an emergency call! It happens to everyone.”

Baekhyun didn’t seem to be convinced by this explanation, and he was about to tell them how he would have thrown a tantrum in the middle of the coffee shop just so that his date would reconsider it before leaving him, but he didn’t have the time to do so, as Siwon entered suddenly the precinct, followed by a face they hadn’t seen around since a while.

 

“Sungmin!” Baekhyun exclaims when he sees the face of the man behind Siwon. Ryeowook and Kyungsoo exchange a look. 

“Here he is,” Ryeowook, and he can’t help being curious about the man Baekhyun used to say so many great things about. Kyungsoo stares at him: he’s good-looking, brown hair, smiley eyes, he also notices the ring at his hand and it doesn’t take much more time to understand what happened when he left the service years prior - it’s even more obvious when he sees Sungmin shaking hands with Kangin, who doesn’t seem as happy as Baekhyun. “There are some things we could gossip about going on in this precinct,” comments Kyungsoo and Ryeowook laughs before eventually standing and joining Baekhyun to great Sungmin as well. Kyungsoo follows him.

“We look forward to working with you, sir,” Kyungsoo says, and Sungmin smiles brightly, “Oh please, call me Sungmin. We’re going to have to spend some time together, better not be too formal or I’ll die of boredness in a day.” Kyungsoo returns the smile. Sungmin seems to be a good cop, it already feels right to be next to him, he looks confident and smart, yet kind and gentle, and Kyungsoo is not sure he has met someone he would trust so easily before. 

 

They don’t have the time to get to know each other more than this brief exchange as Siwon is already up to work: he brings them all in his office and starts to explain the topic to Sungmin who understands quickly and comments everything he doesn’t get.  _ Nice and efficient _ , Kyungsoo thinks, and he can’t help but think that it is a pity Sungmin left for another precinct, it would be good to have more elements like him around.

“I can’t believe Heenim made it until now,” Sungmin suddenly says, and Siwon smirks. “I know, right? I was surprised too when he didn’t get caught on the first week.” 

Sungmin nods, “I guess he has finally grown up, somehow.”

Ryeowook and Kyungsoo exchange another look and then look at Sungmin, and then at Baekhyun. The younger one reads in their eyes that they have plenty of questions they want answers to, and Baekhyun smirks because he loves to tell stories.

 

**Thursday, May 16th**

**6:45 pm**

 

“I personally think you should keep going.”

Leeteuk glances at Shindong, he doesn’t seem to agree and Shindong senses it, so he starts to speak again before Leeteuk interrupts. 

“Look: if he gets closer to him, close enough to share more intimate things with him,” Shindong winks at Kyuhyun who suddenly feels really uncomfortable, “He may be able to grab some information too. It could be useful to us.”

“But dangerous,” Leeteuk points out, “I don’t want to compromise the whole job just because he has been reckless and blinded by his feelings or whatever.”

Kyuhyun doesn’t really like the way both Shindong and Leeteuk talk about him as if he wasn’t in the room, but he’s too ill at ease to protest or say anything at all. He only listens as they discuss the ins and outs of his (potential) relationship with Ryeowook. Kyuhyun had panicked a little when he had heard that the guy was a cop, he didn’t exactly know what to do: he could have cut it off right there in the coffee shop (with Heechul’s call, it would have been easy to play it like this, pretending that they didn’t get along and that they should just not go further) but the problem was that he rather liked Ryeowook - a thing he did not tell Leeteuk although he probably guessed. He had come to Shindong in the first place, asking him for some advice, and Shindong had told Leeteuk, and now they were there, discussing Kyuhyun’s relationship without really asking Kyuhyun’s opinion on the matter, and Shindong had just suggested that Kyuhyun could play a trick on Ryeowook by  _ pretending  _ that he liked him so that he could then retrieve information from the police.

Great.

Kyuhyun only wanted to have someone to hang out with. And now it was interlinked to his (illegal) job.

_ Great. _

“We can make a bet over this,” Shindong says suddenly, then turns to Kyuhyun who snaps back to reality and the conversation. “You keep going with your guy, what’s his name again?”

“Kim Ryeowook,” Kyuhyun says and it feels weird in his mouth.

“Yeah, him. So you guys date, get closer, fuck, whatever I don’t care-” Kyuhyun tries to hide his discomfort by looking away, biting on his lower lip, because he’s really feeling awkward about that at the moment, but it’s not like Leeteuk nor Shindong would care, “and when you’re at his place -because if he’s a good cop he won’t talk to you about the job- you start looking for something, anything that could give us an idea of how much they know.”

Kyuhyun nods. Leeteuk doesn’t seem really convinced by the idea, but he trusts Shindong and will at least see how it turns out before putting his veto. Shindong glances at Leeteuk, who just shrugs. “Whatever,” Leeteuk says, then turns to Kyuhyun, “Don’t do anything stupid, that’s all I ask. And if you bring some info, that would be a plus.”

Kyuhyun nods again. Leeteuk has a way of saying it that reassures him a little, it’s not that he is less intimidating than Shindong, just in another way which Kyuhyun can more easily deal with. 

Leeteuk dismisses him and Kyuhyun can leave the office and Shindong’s smirk he still hasn’t dropped by now. Kyuhyun doesn’t really know how he feels, but he knows that he doesn’t quite like the way he almost had to  _ ask  _ them if he could date Ryeowook, almost as if they were his parents or something. That sounded silly. 

But Kyuhyun knows it’s about the job, if not Leeteuk wouldn’t have been concerned by the situation. Leeteuk is always dead serious about jobs, and Kyuhyun really can’t blame him for that. 

 

**Thursday, May 16th**

**4:51 pm**

 

They all gather in Siwon’s office for this very special meeting, and by all, Siwon meant to include other departments as well. That is how Ryeowook and Kyungsoo got to witness what they thought was the most strained meeting they ever had. 

In the room that isn’t actually that big, they are probably too many. Siwon is standing close to the whiteboard, already writing on it what is going to be the main point of the meeting. Kyungsoo watches as Sungmin stands not far from him, next to the whiteboard as well, and next to him someone Kyungsoo doesn’t know. He nudges Ryeowook to get his attention. “D’you know him?”

Ryeowook gives a look to the stranger and shrugs. “Nah, never saw him, he’s probably from another section of the precinct.”

Kyungsoo agrees and so they wait for Siwon to present him, which he does at the very beginning of the meeting.

“Hey, so, thank everyone for coming,” (In the back, Baekhyun mutters with a smile: “It’s not like we had a choice.”) “May I introduce Liu Xian Hua from the forensic department.”

The man Ryeowook and Kyungsoo did not know about waves and smiles. “Hi, you can call me Henry.” 

“He seems nice,” Ryeowook whispers to Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun hears him, he leans over them as if he is about to tell a secret: “I heard about him. Got transferred to another precinct even before Sungmin left. Heard he had some business with drug-dealers and it compromised him. Also heard Kangin knows all about it but I never asked him, maybe I should now.” And Kangin must have heard his name because he shoots a dirty look at Baekhyun who only chuckles to himself. 

And then they all listen to Siwon again, because he has started writing things on the whiteboard once more, and they don’t want to get lost in the mess that is probably going to be this meeting.

In the end, with all the talking and the arguing that were meant to be in such a meeting, they all are certain about one thing among the others. Siwon summed up pretty efficiently:

“We’re going to get Leeteuk.”

And even Baekhyun is serious about it this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, the first tensions of this story. I hope you enjoyed it! I don't know when I will publish, and even write, the next chapter, but maybe soon!! Thank you for reading, don't forget to leave a comment, that's also what motivates me to write <3

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are!  
> I will try to publish as regularly as possible, so bear with me! Don't forget to check on Twitter to find some updates on the writing process or the aesthetics!  
> I hope you enjoy it so far, comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated <3  
> My Tumblr is @nopesther, you can always reach through it or through Twitter!


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